Luxury Fashion Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
June 16, 2017
The US fashion retail industry is growing more competitive by the year. EMarketer reports that sales in luxury department stores continue to decrease whereas online luxury retail sales is on the rise. Consumers no longer have to visit department stores in person with digital media and SNS at their disposal, putting more influence onto online retailers.
This is in stark contrast to initial business reports concerning that consumers would be unwilling to purchase luxury goods online. According to McKinsey & Company 2016 report, online sales(e-commerce) has quadrupled over between 2009 and 2014 and is expected to triple its size in the next 10 years.
Fashion houses and department stores are scrambling to keep up with this trend. The growth of European fashion e-commerce Yoox Net-a-Porter, following the merger of Yoox and Net-a-Porter, using omni-channel marketing is most noticeable after its initial launch in October 2015.
Founded by Federico Marchetti in 2000, Yoox Group first started as a tech company developing e-commerce platforms for luxury brands leading to its own online retail store “The Corner”. Net-a-Porter was founded by Women’s Wear Daily reporter Natalie Massenet. She devised the business model when she noticed the limitations of editorials and e-commerce. While fashion magazines can provide consumers with the product image, it doesn’t directly lead to a purchase. The combination of luxury fashion e-commerce provider Yoox with high-end fashion content creator Net-a-Porter, was a mutually beneficially deal which brought about a new form of online retailor with the emphasis on omni- channel marketing.
Digital Catalogs: “The Edit”
The Edit is the online catalog provided on Net-a-Porter’s app and webpage. By providing consumers a new way of advertising in the forms of magazine editorials, it allows consumers to by inspired while saying on top of the latest fashion items.
Print Fashion Magazine “Porter Magazine”
Net-a-Porter launched its seasonal print magazine (Porter Magazine) with high quality contents that is even comparable next to VOGUE. The biggest asset of the magazine is it’s feature to link to the Porter Magazine app. This feature allowed consumers to directly make a purchase after looking at the magazine without the hassle of re-searching the items online and instead use the image recognition software to make a purchase more easily.
Social Media “The Net Set”
Similar to Instagram, The Net Set is a social media platform created by Net-a-Porter. With the realization that a large portion of Instagram users are Fashion consumers, it forms a community based on consumers following accounts that appeal to their taste. This form of shop-able social media is comparable to Instagram where direct shopping on the app is not possible.
Collaboration with IBM
Reuters recently reported that Net-a-Porter plans to collaborated with IBM Watson to provide consumers a more personalize service. Using consumer analysis acquired by the IBM headquarters, the platform plans to grasp a better and deeper understanding of consumer needs to provide higher quality service.
Founder and CEO of Net-a-Porter Federico Marchetti, accentuated the company’s identity as a ‘tech’ company rather than a fashion company, emphasizing Net-a-Porter’s use of technology. In this sense, it is reasonable to conclude that Net-a-Porter’s immaculate success was based on their fast paced adaptation to the digital environment and utilization of new technology, providing consumers with a more creative experience.
